title: Short-term corticosteroid therapy for chronic active hepatitis B.
abstract: Seventeen patients with chronic active type B hepatitis were treated with prednisone for 4 weeks. All were initially hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive and 14 were DNA-polymerase-positive as well. In the follow-up period of 1 year, 10 patients became persistently negative for DNA polymerase and 11 cleared HBeAg from serum, while among 17 matched untreated controls only one lost DNA polymerase and HBeAg. However, 1 patient who was initially DNA-polymerase-negative and who lost HBeAg after treatment reactivated to HBeAg after 4 months and DNA polymerase appeared in his serum. He suffered prolonged exacerbation of liver disease after treatment and died of liver failure. Short-term corticosteroid therapy may be of value in patients with chronic active type B hepatitis, however, in some cases such treatment may be disastrous.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatology, Institute of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Laskus
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cianciara
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Loch
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Slusarczyk
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000097:blood; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology; D006521:Hepatitis, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011241:Prednisone / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase; D011241:Prednisone